In recent years, there has been significant growth in devices capable of displaying three-dimensional images, including televisions, gaming devices, and smart phones. In conjunction with this growth is the increased interest in creating three-dimensional images, both static and video, to provide content that can be displayed in these devices. For example, a number of smart phones capable of displaying three-dimensional images are also equipped with three-dimensional cameras, i.e., cameras that capture multiple views simultaneously.
However, one of the main influences of smart phones in modern society is the near constant exchange of information with others. Accordingly, smart phones that capture three-dimensional images share those images with smart phones incapable of displaying three-dimensional images. Of course, smart phones and other devices incapable of displaying three-dimensional images are ever increasingly coming across three-dimensional images to be displayed.
There are a number of ways three-dimensional images can be displayed using a two-dimensional display. One is to simply display just one of the multiple views of the three-dimensional image. This has the disadvantage of failing to convey to the viewer any sense that the image was anything other than a two-dimensional image.
Another technique is to display the three-dimensional image as an anaglyph image in which two views are superimposed over one another, one view being tinted one color (e.g., cyan) and the other view being tinted a contrasting color (e.g., red). The viewer wears a pair of special glasses in which one lens is tinted with one of the contrasting colors and the other lens is tinted with the other contrasting color. This causes the viewer to see primarily one view with one eye and the other view with the other eye. However, the tinting of the views distorts the colors of the views such that the perceived three-dimensional image appears to have unnatural coloring. In addition, the anaglyph image is not perceivable as a three-dimensional image without the special glasses.
A third technique is “wiggle stereography,” in which different views of the three-dimensional image are shown in relatively quick succession, giving the appearance of the three-dimensional image wiggling. This technique has the advantages of obviating special viewing equipment and preserving the proper coloring of the three-dimensional image. However, this technique has the disadvantages of persistent and annoying motion of the image and making it difficult for the viewer to appreciate detail in an image that's persistently in motion.
What is needed is an improved way to display three-dimensional images using a conventional two-dimensional display and in a way that appears more natural and realistic to the viewer.